


The Vampire Waltz

by SheLovedTooEasily



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Twilight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 10:44:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/939038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheLovedTooEasily/pseuds/SheLovedTooEasily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bella is getting married to a man she doesn't really love, but a mysterious vampire shows up at her wedding party and offers to take her away and make all her dreams come true…</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Vampire Waltz

**Author's Note:**

> Bella x Edward One Shot, some of my earlier work.

Weddings… I had never been a big fan of weddings, or other parties for that matter. But to my dismay, this was one wedding party that I couldn't possibly skip, seeing as it was my own. Right now, I should be feeling euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled, you name it… But I had none of those feelings, and it made me feel slightly guilty. According to most feel-good movies and books, this was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. And yet it didn't feel that way to me, not even close…

At this very moment, Mike and I were about to share the first dance, encouraged by our friends and relatives who had all formed a neat circle around the dance floor. My mom and dad, Mike's parents, my best friends Angela and Jacob, and at least seventy other familiar faces. All of them were wearing huge smiles. Maybe they were feeling the euphoria that I should be feeling at this moment…

The scene was beautiful; we were celebrating the wedding in the spacious backyard of the Newtons. For once it wasn't raining in Forks, and the temperature wasn't too bad, either. Small lanterns were placed everywhere to light up the yard, accompanied by crystal vases containing white flowers, and various other decorations. The huge dance floor was set up in the centre of the backyard, taking up about thirty percent of the space.

Mike gave me an uncertain smile as he led me into the dance, seeming a little nervous because he knew very well that he wasn't the most talented dancer. A romantic moment, that was what this was supposed to be, but the only thing that caught my attention was the fact that Mike was counting the steps in his head in order not to trip over his own two feet. Concentration was clear on his face as he soundlessly kept counting. 'One, two, three. One, two, three'. I could practically hear his thoughts as if he was speaking them out loud. His eyes found mine and he smiled again, a more convincing smile this time. His eyes were sparkling, because unlike me, he was happy about this marriage. Unfortunately this distracted him from the counting, and he stepped on my right foot, as well as on the material of my white wedding gown.

"Ouch!" I uttered in a reflex.

"Oops! I'm so sorry, baby." Mike apologized, a wary look on his face.

I looked into his baby blue eyes, detecting nothing but sincerity in them. I could hardly blame him for not triggering any magical feelings within me.

"It's fine." I assured him quickly, faking a smile like I had done so many times before since I had started dating Mike after college.

Don't get me wrong, Mike was a great guy. He was friendly, loyal, and a good buddy. We had gotten along great in high school, even though he had always had a huge crush on me while at the same time I had refused to see him as more than a good friend. After graduating I had left for college, hoping to meet new people there and find someone who could be more than just my friend. After four years I had come to the conclusion that this wasn't the case, and when I returned to Forks in order to look for a job, I had stumbled upon Mike again. He had still been single, and he hadn't wasted any time, making it clear that his feelings for me hadn't been erased over time. That was when I decided that I was probably being too picky, and that I had to stop acting like a spoiled brat, unless I wanted to end up alone, living in a smelly apartment with a bunch of cats.

Besides, Mike wasn't such a bad choice… He was rather good-looking, and I did like him. It just wasn't the earth-shattering kind of love that you read about in books. And that was exactly the reason why I was marrying Mike Newton, right there. Because the fairytale kind of love didn't exist. It was nothing but a stupid illusion that people created to make life more interesting, something to make life worth living. But that wasn't reality, it was merely a fantasy.

So maybe I had married Mike because that was what people expected me to do. After all, that was how life went; you finished college, you found a job, settled down, and got married. And honestly, this was as good as it was going go get. I was twenty-three years old, and the hope that I would ever come across my 'true soul mate', had left me a long time ago. I was a rational girl, and I knew that I would make Charlie and Renée very happy by marrying this guy. Besides, he was my best option, even though he hadn't been my only one…

I had tried dating my best friend Jacob Black, but that hadn't worked out very well, either. Jake was like a brother to me, and he thought of me as his sister. We had seriously given it a shot, but every time he kissed me, it felt like kissing a sibling instead of a boyfriend. To my relief he had felt the same, and so we decided that it had to stop; best friends forever, but nothing more than that.

"Are you alright?" Mike asked quietly while we were still swaying to the sickly sweet music.

"Sure, sure, I'm great… Just a little overwhelmed, that's all." I lied fluently, automatically.

Mike nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel, baby. No matter what, getting married is a big deal."

I gave him a small nod, and he smiled before concentrating on the dancing again. More people were making their way to the dance floor now, drawing the attention away from us, for which I was thankful. Eventually the DJ gave a sign that it was time to switch partners, and Charlie eagerly stepped up to me, something that was quite unusual for him. It made me think that he was indeed very happy that I had finally found someone.

"Bells! You don't mind dancing with your old father for a bit, do you?" He said, grinning at me.

I managed to grin back at him, keeping up the charade. "Not at all, dad. You know that."

Even Charlie was better at dancing than Mike, and that was saying something. Like me, my dad wasn't someone who enjoyed parties, let alone dancing. Another thing that we had in common was that we both weren't very coordinated, which made it a pleasant surprise that he succeeded in not waltzing on my feet. We shuffled around the dance floor, making small talk while doing so. I lied a lot, telling him that I was extremely happy and completely content. Feelings of guilt washed over me again, but I persistently ignored them.

Don't make this any harder than it already is, Bella, you're doing the right thing. This is what your life will be like from now on, start accepting the fact that you'll spend the rest of your existence with Mike Newton. Be prepared to live a long, boring life without ever feeling real love. The mental speech that I presented myself with hardly made me feel better. Spending the rest of my life with Mike Newton… Was that really it? Was that all there was for me?

The song ended, and Charlie let go of me, handing me over to Jacob who was already standing beside us, eagerly waiting for his turn. He was smirking at me as he took his chance to dance with me.

"Finally! I get my dance with the beautiful bride!" He said cheerfully.

I laughed, relaxing a little for the first time today as he placed his arms around my waist. Jake's presence always cheered me up, even at times when I was on the edge of depression or freaking out.

"Finally, I get to dance with my best friend." I mocked him, giving him a grin.

"Yep, this will be the best dance of your life. And feel free to talk as well, no charge. Seeing as you are the bride, you get two for the price of one today." Jake replied. All of the sudden his face was turning serious, despite his playful words.

"Excuse me?" I played dumb as we started to dance.

Jake rolled his eyes. "You heard me, why don't you tell me what's wrong? It's your wedding day, you're supposed to be happy! And let me tell you, you don't look happy. On the contrary, the last time you looked like this was that day your cat died, back when you were seven years old."

I sighed; Jacob knew me too well. "There's no point in talking about it." I answered dismissively after a short silence.

Jake's dark-brown eyes bored into mine, and I spotted some sadness in them. "You're my best friend in the entire world, Bella. I want you to be happy."

"I am, I just have to get used to the idea of being married, that's all." Again with the lying.

"Hope you don't mind that I don't believe that excuse, you're a horrible liar." Jake accused, making a face at me. "I know that things didn't work out between the two of us, and all I want is for you to find someone to share your life with… But we both know that it's not Mike Newton."

"Perhaps, but I can't keep waiting for a prince on a white horse to show up at my door and sweep me off my feet, Jake! Life doesn't work like that, you have to work with what you got." I defended myself.

"Work with what you got? And then? Feel miserable for the rest of your existence?" He questioned, sounding somewhat frustrated.

I had nothing to say to that, and so I remained silent as we continued to move around the dance floor. I avoided Jake's eyes, but I could still feel his stare on me. I stubbornly ignored it, looking everywhere but at Jake's face during the rest of the dance, afraid that I would have a breakdown if he took the opportunity to grill me further. The song ended, and Jake tightly squeezed my shoulders, shooting me a last, concerned look before he let me go.

The evening dragged on, and I danced with countless other people. There were a lot of Mike's relatives that I didn't know very well, but I dutifully danced and chatted with each and every one of them, all the while pretending that this was the best night of my life.

Around ten I was in desperate need of a drink, preferably something with some alcohol in it, hoping that it would calm me down. I inconspicuously stumbled in the direction of the table with refreshments, relieved that no one was looking at me, and grateful that I wasn't the centre of attention for the first time today. I reached the table, where I spotted a bottle of wine. Great, why don't you get drunk on your own wedding, Bella. That's a brilliant idea. Despite me mentally scolding myself, my hands had a mind of their own, already reaching for one of the glasses.

I quietly sipped my wine as I observed the people on the dance floor. To my surprise Charlie was dancing with Renée, and they even seemed to have fun. My parents had divorced a long time ago, when I was only two years old, but they still got along pretty well. Renée's new husband Phil was a minor league baseball player, and he hadn't been able to make it to the wedding, but it seemed that Charlie was doing a fabulous job at entertaining my mom.

I mindlessly gazed at the numerous people who were enjoying themselves, my eyes wandering over the crowd, even though I wasn't sure what I was searching for. It seemed that one of Mike's aunts had already consumed a little too much wine, which made it hilarious to watch her. Regardless, she couldn't hold my attention for longer than two minutes, and my eyes wandered off again.

That's when I spotted him across the dance floor, standing at the other end of the yard. My heart jumped up in my chest, and I momentarily forgot how to breathe. I was one hundred percent positive that I had never seen him before in my life; surely I would have remembered him. I assumed that he was one of Mike's cousins, or maybe an old friend of Mike's that I hadn't met before.

The first thing I noticed about him, was that he stood out. It was almost as if he made all the people in his vicinity look plain and ordinary because of his mere presence. His skin was abnormally pale, even for someone who was living in the cloudy town of Forks, but it didn't look unhealthy. Actually, it suited him perfectly. His hair had an odd color that was somewhere between red and brown, and his face… It was the face of an angel, flawless. All his features were perfect, as if a very talented artist had carved them out of marble.

My eyes searched his, and to my deep embarrassment I concluded that he had already been observing me. I gasped as his eyes locked with mine. Busted, he couldn't have missed that I had been ogling him. I wanted to slap myself, but his eyes distracted me from that violent thought. Those eyes… It was hard to tell which color they were, but the first thing that came to mind was 'gold'. Impossible… No one had golden eyes, it probably had something to do with the light, or my overactive imagination. Surely it couldn't be the wine, I hadn't even finished my first glass…

I was about to tear my gaze away from him, when to my horror, I noticed that he started walking in my direction. Uh oh, what had I done? The bride, drooling over someone who might as well be the long forgotten best friend of the groom. This was so humiliating, but somehow, I couldn't find the strength to look away.

He gracefully strode towards me, the hint of a smile around his alluring lips. The black tux that he was wearing contrasted nicely with his pale skin, and it made him look almost inhumanly beautiful. He didn't stop moving until he was standing right in front of me. Even with only a tiny distance left between us, I couldn't detect any flaws. Never before had a man's appearance succeeded in making me swoon, but he was obviously an exception to that rule. My heart threatened to burst out of my chest, and I bit my lip as I stared at him, completely stunned.

"Hello there." He greeted me, directing a charming smile at me, his voice sounding like velvet.

"H-hello." I stuttered. "I'm sorry about, you know… That wasn't…" I tried to add an apology, but I failed to produce a coherent sentence. I felt like such an idiot.

He held up his hand to save me from my own babbling, shaking his head in amusement. "Don't apologize, that's fine. I'm not complaining when a beautiful girl such as yourself is looking at me."

I blushed heavily at his comment; he had called me beautiful! I gazed up into his eyes, and my heart did another jump when I saw that they were indeed a light, liquid gold.

"So, I've never seen you before. Are you… A friend of Mike's? Relative?" I managed to pull myself together because my curiosity got the best of me.

The beautiful man shook his head and he briefly leaned in to whisper in my ear in a conspiratorially tone, his cool breath tickling my neck. "No, Bella. I'm not in any way related to the Newton boy. In fact, I don't know anyone here. I'm here to see you, but let's keep that our little secret."

My heart sped up when he said my name. Not to mention, I was wondering how he knew my name in the first place.

"Then how do you know my name?" It was out before I could even think it through.

He laughed quietly, a musical sound that matched his voice. "Oh, I know quite a lot about you, Isabella Swan. I know you're the clumsiest girl in the world, but also very smart, remarkably selfless, and refreshingly unpredictable. I also know that, today, you married a man that you don't really love…"

"What? Who are you? How do you know all this?" Another flood of questions left my mouth, seeing as this was getting stranger by the minute.

"I've been observing you for a fairly long time, Bella. No one has ever fascinated me the way you do." Was his simple reply. His golden eyes were smoldering me, and by now my heartbeat was going wild.

He had been watching me? Then how was it possible that I'd never noticed him before? Surely I couldn't have missed a godlike creature staring at me… Unless he hadn't wanted me to see him, that is… I was aware that his words should've scared the heck out of me, but I felt kind of flattered. I gave myself a few seconds to calm my breathing before examining him further.

"Well then… If you know so much about me, I think it would only be fair if you told me your name." I said, my eyes still locked with his, trapped in his intense gaze.

He smiled crookedly, his features relaxing. "It's Edward. Edward Cullen."

"Cullen… Never heard of it." I mused out loud. "Do you live near Forks?"

He shrugged. "My family owns many properties all over the country, but yes, there's one near Forks. Are you done with the questions now?" He said, quirking an eyebrow at me, his tone teasing.

"Are you kidding me?" I responded, the words sounding calmer than I would've expected at this point. "You walk in here, telling me that you've been watching me, summarizing all kinds of personal stuff about me… You're not even on the guest list, are you? I don't understand any of this, what are you doing here?"

He smirked at me, and when he answered me, he sounded perfectly confident. "Making you mine. My master plan is to win your heart and take you home with me. Yes, that about sums it up..."

My jaw dropped, and all I could do was gape at him. A tiny part of my brain was shouting at me that this mysterious Edward was a creepy stalker, but another, bigger part didn't care one bit about that.

"Come again?" I said, checking if I wasn't dreaming.

He merely smiled another one of his charming smiles, sending my heart in overdrive again. "Why don't you dance with me? We can talk some more." He offered, holding out his hand to me.

My eyes flickered to his hand, then back to his face. Dance with him? He had showed up uninvited, turned my world upside down in a matter of minutes, and now he had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to dance? He had guts, I had to give him that. And I would be lying to myself if I pretended that I wasn't attracted to him, as well as desperate to talk to him some more.

"You can trust me." He said, looking up at me from under his lashes.

I hesitantly lifted up my trembling hand, placing it in his. "Alright then…"

As soon as I placed my hand in his, I felt a spark, as if an electric current was running through my body, causing all my senses to become hyperaware. Another thing I noticed was that his hand was cold as ice; not a healthy temperature for a regular human to have.

He held my hand in his, twining our fingers, and he placed his other hand around my waist. I glanced around as Edward guided me to the dance floor, but no one was paying attention to us. We were lucky that there were a lot of guests; as far as I could tell, no one noticed that the mysterious man who I was dancing with wasn't exactly invited.

We slowly started to swirl around, and with Edward leading, dancing turned out to be easier than it had ever been before. He was looking at my face all the while, focusing on only me, and definitely not counting the steps in his head like Mike had done. A new rush of guilt attacked me when I felt all the feelings that I should've felt when dancing with Mike.

"What are you thinking? I'm so used to hearing peoples' thoughts, and it's still very frustrating for me that I can't hear yours." He asked unexpectedly, his tone casual as if he wasn't saying anything unusual.

I frowned, his words confusing me. "Sorry? Hear peoples' thoughts? You're joking right! What are you, a mind reader?" I asked jokingly.

His face remained deadly serious, and my eyes widened.

"Don't worry, like I said, I can't hear yours." He reminded me when it occurred to him why I was horrorstruck.

"But you do hear other peoples' thoughts, then?" I asked in awe, for some reason believing him.

He nodded in confirmation, smirking at me. "At the moment, your husband is wondering where you know me from, but he doesn't want to interrupt us, so he's going to ask you later. I also sense some jealousy in his thoughts."

I stared at him, once again at a loss for words. There was, without a doubt, something weird going on with this guy. He couldn't be an ordinary human, that much I knew. The scary part was that I didn't seem to mind at all… I didn't feel the need to end our dance as quickly as possible, only the undeniable urge to move even closer to him.

"So, are you going to tell me?" He prompted.

"What?" I muttered, my mind turning more fuzzy with every second that I was in his arms.

"Your thoughts?" He probed.

"Oh… They're hazy, I guess… I've got so many questions right now." I told him the truth without thinking.

"Then go ahead and ask them." He said, smiling gently in encouragement.

"Okay…" I began tentatively, deliberating what the most vital question was. But it was obvious really… There was one question in particular that truly bothered me, and I decided to ask the dreaded question, even if it was a rather rude one. "What are you?"

I had half expected his reaction to my question to be cold or irritated, but he remained unfazed.

"Ah, I was expecting that. One of the many things I've learned about you in the past couple of weeks is that you are very perceptive for a human." He complimented me. "What do you think I am?" He asked, expectantly cocking an eyebrow at me.

I thought about that for a second… It was a good thing that Edward was an excellent leader, otherwise the dancing would've become a problem by now, seeing as my brain was far too preoccupied with everything but dancing.

"An angel?" I guessed quietly, realizing how idiotic it sounded now that I had said it out loud.

He laughed mockingly. "An angel? I don't think so, more like the opposite, love."

Love? My heart made some more crazy moves. Being Edward's 'love' sounded way better than being Mike's 'baby'.

"Then tell me." I asked boldly.

He sighed and pressed his lips into a tight line, but didn't answer me. I just kept staring at him, attempting to pull the answer out of him. We were still moving around the dance floor, and some haunting piano song was currently playing. I became aware that it was getting cold in his embrace, but I couldn't care less.

"Please?" I pleaded again when he didn't speak.

He let out another sigh before leaning in a bit, bringing his face level with mine. He gradually leaned in further, until his nose skimmed against my jaw line.

"Don't be scared." He whispered.

I let out a shallow breath, unconsciously leaning into him. Now that he was this close I was confronted with the heavenly scent that he radiated, making my head even more cloudy.

"I won't… You can tell me." I encouraged him again, my voice had also gone down to a whisper.

His lips brushed against my jaw now, barely touching my skin, making me shiver with pleasure. They moved lower, ghosting along my throat.

"Vampire." He suddenly breathed against my pulse point.

Vampire… My breathing picked up as that one, unthinkable word was slowly sinking in. But when he pulled back a little in order to gauge my reaction, I honestly had to admit that I wasn't as horrified as a normal person should be after hearing something like this. Naturally I was surprised, slightly shocked at the idea that vampires turned out to be more than silly myths. Also, when thinking about vampires I thought about bloody fangs and red eyes, but looking at Edward, that had to be part of the myth as well. Edward… He made me feel a lot of foreign emotions, but fright wasn't one of them…

"Vampire…" I cautiously repeated the word, out loud this time. "Is that even possible?"

He smiled wistfully, his topaz eyes turning darker. "Apparently it is."

For some reason he looked somewhat sad, and I felt some unexplainable need to comfort him. I carefully brought my hand up to his face, lightly stroking the smooth skin of his cheek. He didn't stop me, but his forehead creased in confusion.

"You just learned that I'm a vampire… Aren't your instincts telling you to run and hide?" He asked in wonder.

I smiled shyly at him. "I don't think you want to hurt me." I stated bravely, somehow feeling that my words were the truth.

Again he sighed. "You're right, I don't… But my control isn't perfect, Bella."

"Considering the fact that I'm still alive, I think you're doing an excellent job so far." I said casually, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

He chuckled, shaking his head in awe. "You're taking this all so coolly, it's almost unnatural."

"I suppose I trust you."

"Which is a very bad thing to do." He muttered.

I raised my eyebrows. "Didn't you say earlier that you were here to make me yours? Because right now you're contradicting yourself, Edward."

"That's a very good point, love." He agreed easily. "I want you to be mine, but you see, what I'm doing is very selfish."

It suddenly occurred to me that we had stopped dancing, and that he was slowly leading me away from the dance floor, to a secluded corner of the backyard. I made no move to protest, willingly following him.

"Selfish how?" I asked once we stopped walking.

"I want to keep you forever, but it's utterly unfair of me to doom you to this existence, which will inevitably happen, eventually." He replied, gesturing to himself as he said 'this'.

I blinked in surprise as I realized what he was saying. He wanted me to become like him… Of course he did, it was the only logical way if he wanted us to be together. If he didn't change me, I would grow old while he would stay young forever. I didn't know which realization was the scariest; the fact that a gorgeous vampire wanted to claim me as his and offer me an eternity with him, or the fact that it sounded like a very groovy plan to me, at the moment.

I glanced up at him, straight into his mesmerizing but troubled eyes. It seemed like he was fighting some internal battle, struggling with his own thoughts. One of my hands reached for his hair, and I gently ran it through the tousled, bronze locks, which were surprisingly soft. I stood on my tiptoes, my body already making the moves before my brain could tell me that I had to keep my hands to myself.

He appeared to be sincerely surprised when I wrapped my arms around his neck and lifted up my head. My mission was touching my lips to his, but he stopped me, right before I could feel his smooth lips against mine. I made a sound of protest, but he shook his head.

"It's not a smart plan to do that here, Mrs. Newton. People might object to the bride kissing another man." He reminded me, emphasizing the last name that I would have to use from now on.

I felt nothing but immense disappointment as the unpleasant reality caught up with me, and I gave him a pleading look. He swiftly leaned in, his lips suddenly at my ear.

"You know what? Close your eyes." He whispered.

Without hesitation, I did as I was told, and I felt how he scooped me up into his arms the instant I closed my eyes. For several heartbeats I only felt a light breeze, and just as I was planning on asking him what was going on, he spoke again.

"You may open them."

I felt how he placed me safely back on the ground, and I opened my eyes, seeing that our surroundings had changed. I could distantly hear the sounds from the party, but we were standing between the trees now, at the edge of the forest, away from all the nosy partygoers. We looked very out of place, all dressed up in the middle of the dark forest. The underside of my earlier spotless, white dress rested on the muddy forest floor, but I was beyond caring.

I stepped closer to Edward, a smile spreading across my face, and he returned it with an uneven smile of his own. This time he was the one bringing our faces closer, getting rid of the gap between us. When he was less than an inch away, he raised his alabaster eyebrows at me in question, as if silently asking for my permission. I nodded nearly invisibly, wanting nothing more than to kiss him. So what if he was a vampire, so what if I had only just met him…

The second he crushed his lips to mine, I felt whole, complete. His cold, smooth lips hungrily brushed against mine, making me feel things that I had never felt before. He tasted delicious, like honey and cinnamon. It was almost addicting, and I knotted my hands in his hair, holding him in place because I never wanted to break our kiss. His icy tongue traced my lower lip, and I gasped in surprise. His sweet, cool breath invaded my mouth, and I inhaled greedily. My breathing turned ragged; it was a miracle that I didn't collapse.

Eventually I had to break free in order not to faint, and I reluctantly did so. Edward let go of me, and for a minute we simply stared at each other in silence, until he broke it.

"You felt that, too, didn't you? That's what you want, isn't it?" He asked. His tone wasn't commanding or seductive, it was completely serious.

I nodded slowly. "Yes…" I admitted softly.

He was right, this was what I wanted. I had never felt like this about anyone. Not Jake, not Mike, not anybody… But now I realized that it did exist, the straight-out-of-a-book kind of love that so many people dreamed about, because that was what I felt with Edward. And now that I knew that this whole love-at-first-sight-thing was real, was there even a chance that I could I ever be happy without him? I didn't really need to think about the right answer to that question…

But then again, there were a lot of other questions to which I didn't have answers… Was Edward going to kidnap me, take me away from my family, just like that? Would I ever see my parents and friends again? And the most important one; what would it be like, spending the rest of my existence as a vampire?

I immediately voiced that last thought. "Are you going to turn me into a vampire now?" I asked, my voice shaking ever so slightly.

Edward's golden eyes bored into mine, and he wrapped his arms around my waist. "No, Bella. Not unless you want me to. Even if you decide to come with me, I won't change you until you are ready. I want you to know that you have a choice."

So there was the answer to the kidnapping-part, apparently that was not his plan. "I do?"

"Of course, and please don't be afraid to refuse my offer." Edward said firmly, his eyes communicating that this was important. "It's up to you, love. I can take you back to the party, and you can go on with your life, the same way it was before I showed up and complicated things… If you want me to leave, I swear that I will never bother you again, despite how painful it will be for me."

"Or?" I pressed, needing to hear him say it out loud.

One of his hands gently cupped my cheek, his thumb repeatedly caressing my skin.

"Or you can leave everything behind, come with me, and become Mrs. Cullen instead of Mrs. Newton." He offered, all the while keeping those golden eyes connected with my dull brown ones.

"But if I become a vampire… I would have to kill humans to survive." I told him my only real objection to this whole plan, briefly dropping my eyes to the floor before I looked back at his face.

Edward looked stunned for a moment, but quickly composed himself, shaking his head. "God no, love! How could I be so stupid! You're under the impression that I kill humans..." He said warily, more to himself than me.

"Well isn't that what vampires do? Drink blood?" I asked skeptically.

"We do drink blood, but some vampires have a special diet. Vampires like me… Like my entire family. We've learned to survive on animal blood." He explained. "So unless you're a vegetarian…" He trailed off, giving me a small smile.

"Oh…" I mumbled, dumbfounded, but also relieved that this amazing guy didn't run around at night to kill the innocent humans who were unlucky enough to cross his path.

"However, becoming a vampire is still something major, love. It's your choice, I'm not going to force you to choose me."

"But if I do choose you?" I asked, firmly wrapping my arms around his cool neck and urgently looking into his eyes.

"Then I promise to love you forever, Bella. I'll give you anything you desire, I'll stay with you for all eternity, and you'll never have to grow old." He said earnestly, his sweet breath washing over my face.

I was gobsmacked. This sounded too good to be true. I usually was the girl with all the bad luck, so it was difficult to grasp that this was really happening. I was also known as the practical, rational girl… A girl who always took responsibility for her actions, and who wouldn't recklessly leave everything behind to run off… With a vampire nonetheless. This whole situation was absurd. And then there was something else… Why me? Edward could have any girl he wanted, but he had picked plain, little old me. That was one last thing I needed to ask him about before I made my decision, I wanted to know his motivation.

"Why me, Edward? There are plenty of girls out there who are ten times prettier than me, and twenty times more interesting than me."

"Are there?" He asked, sincere astonishment evident on his perfect face. "I have to disagree. To me, you are the most perfect, most beautiful girl that I've ever come across. And I've been around a long time, so I've seen a lot of girls, trust me. The day I accidentally came across your appealing, floral scent and followed you because I was curious, has been the turning point in my empty existence."

His words made no sense to me, but his eyes told me that he truly meant what he'd said.

"But what if you get tired of me, eternity is a long time!" I expressed my worries.

"That won't ever happen." He replied abruptly. "Vampires don't easily fall in love, but when they do, it's forever, Bella. I'm sure that Mike promised you the very same thing when the minister asked, this afternoon. But it's a lie, love. Mike Newton can't love you for the rest of eternity, he's only human after all. Only a vampire can love you forever."

His words left me speechless. Was it any use to even try and deny what I truly wanted? Was there even a point in pretending that it wasn't him?

"It's your future, Bella, you're free to choose any path you want. All you have to do is tell me what you want." He pulled me out of my thoughts.

"You." The word was out of my mouth before my brain could even give me permission to speak.

For a moment he just gazed at me, incredulous. "And you're absolutely sure about that?" He checked again.

"Yes… Even though this doesn't make any sense at all, I know that I want you." I confirmed, letting out a nervous laugh.

Edward rewarded me with a glorious smile that touched his smoldering eyes and showed his perfectly white teeth. "You're too good to be true… You were made for me." He murmured, admiration filling his tone.

I had to laugh at that. "Too good to be true? Look who's talking."

He quietly laughed with me, but soon became serious again, leaning in to present me with another mind-blowing kiss. Any last traces of doubt were effectively removed from my system as our lips moved together; It was plain as day that I would never want anyone else.

After a while he detached his lips from mine, but his cool arms remained draped around my waist. We were gazing into each other's eyes, and I nearly drowned in the pools of gold.

"We should go, love." He finally said.

I smiled timidly, some sadness coming over me as I realized that coming with him also meant never seeing my parents and friends again. "I suppose I can't go back there to say goodbye, can I?"

Edward sighed, giving me an apologetic look. "Unless you want to tell your friends and family that you're going to run away with a man you met an hour ago."

I groaned, running my hands through my hair. "God, it sounds very wrong when you put it like that."

"It does, huh? But does it feel wrong?" He questioned, his arms tightening around my waist.

I shook my head immediately. "Not at all… You're right, if I stayed now, I don't think that I could ever be happy again. Knowing that you're out there somewhere… But would it be alright if I send out some letters later? The least I can do is to let everyone know that I'm alright and happy..." I requested.

"I see no harm in that, love. In fact, it's an excellent idea, otherwise they'll keep searching for you." He agreed.

"Thank you." I said, briefly pecking him on the lips.

He smiled at the gesture.

"Anything else?" He asked patiently.

"Nope, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's go." He said quietly, taking one of my hands in his.

"Wait… What about my stuff?" I asked when I recalled that I hadn't brought anything with me, and that I was still wearing a conspicuous, white dress.

Edward shrugged, grinning at me. "You won't need it. I'll buy you new stuff, better stuff."

"Buy me stuff? Nothing unnecessarily expensive." I warned; I hated it when other people were spending awful amounts of money on me.

A smug smile crept up his face. "Sorry, that's one thing I can't promise."

"We'll see about that." I threatened unimpressively.

He rolled his pretty, humor-filled eyes at me but otherwise ignored my comment.

"Let's go, Mrs. Cullen." He said cheerfully, suddenly lifting me up into his arms and holding me close to him, bridal style.

I involuntarily let out a loud giggle as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I snuggled even closer to him, resting my head against his chest, and he sweetly kissed my forehead.

"I swear that I will do anything in my power to make sure that you won't regret your decision. I'll love you every second for the rest of your existence, starting today." He whispered into my hair.

I shivered, briefly closing my eyes, enjoying the feeling of pure bliss that I felt for the first time in my life.

"Thank you, Edward… I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I think I love you…" I said truthfully.

I could feel how his lips were slowly turning up into a smile against my hair, and I smiled, too. This was ridiculous, surreal, disturbed… and the best thing that had ever happened to me.

A cool breeze surrounded us as he started running with me in his arms, the trees nothing but a blur around us as we disappeared into the night. The smile never left my face, excitement running through my veins as I imagined what my new life was going to be like. A life that was guaranteed to be filled with love. A life that would last forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


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